Destroyer Sterett leaves on deployment Tuesday

The Sterett is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that's capable of firing a variety of missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles.

/ US NAVY

The Sterett is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that's capable of firing a variety of missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The Sterett is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that's capable of firing a variety of missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles. (/ US NAVY)

The destroyer Sterett, which was fired upon by pirates off Somalia during a deadly incident in February, will leave San Diego Bay Tuesday for a deployment to the western Pacific. The cruiser Cape St. George will deploy from San Diego one day later, says the Navy. Both ships will join a carrier strike group led by the carrier Abraham Lincoln.

The clash at sea occurred on Feb. 22 when one of pirates who had taken four American yachters hostage fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Sterett. The grenade missed the ship. But as we reported at the time, the pirates killed the hostages before Navy Seals could reach the yacht to intervene. Two of the hostages aboard the yacht Quest were from Southern California.